To think cooking from scratch is not always cheaper?

[RainbowSlidders]

I would like to start by saying due to allergies I do cook and bake from scratch. I see people on here saying it’s so much cheaper cooking everything from scratch but honestly I think a lot of time it isn’t although it is definitely nicer.

Last night I made spaghetti bolognaise the ingredients cost me over £18 for 6 portions (family of 5 plus 1 portion for dc to take back to uni). How is that cheaper? A jar of sauce is about 75p in Aldi so I can see why people use it and not to mention the extra cost of fuel and the time it takes, 30 minutes on the hob followed by 3.5 hours in the oven.

What are you using to make it that expensive? It is more expensive as an outlay as you really need herbs, spices and some cupboard ingredients to add to stuff, with a jar you don't. Often you do pay for convenience though so depends what it is really and what you use in your home cooked dishes. Agree it's not by default cheaper.

Yes it can definitely be more expensive but how on earth did the ingredients for spag bol for 6 people cost you nearly £20??

I agree. Cooking from scratch is often far more expensive than buying ready meals. Baking even more so.

The trick is to buy lean mince instead of gold plated.

Eh? How on earth did you spend that?

Well no it isn't. Processed or factory made food is made in bulk with mass bought products so it can be cheaper especially if you account for your own time, cooking fuel etc

However, I find its almost always better quality for your money to cook yourself.

Anyone can buy cheap processed meat or carb heavy frozen stuff and yes that probably will cost less per meal. The ingredients are usually as long as your arm as they have to make it cheaply and keep it shelf stable for as long as possible.

If you wanted to buy the equivalent quality as made at home you would be spending way more.

What on earth did you put in your spag bol. Mine isn't frugal but no way does it come to £18.99.

500g good quality Mince £5.50
Small bottle of Shiraz £3
1 onion £40p
Tin of good quality Tom's 75p
Squirt of tomato puree 35p
Three garlic cloves 15p
Oregano
Black pepper
Salt
Bayleaves probably 20p tops
Packet of good quality pasta £1.50
Grating of parmesan £1

Mixed salad £3

That's about £15 and I could do it for a fiver less and it would still be better than a jar of sauce.

3.5 hours in the oven?

Yes, good quality food costs more than low quality food, but you aren't comparing like for like by the sound of it.

Of course it isn’t. Iceland adverts tell you that. Beige freezer food is far cheaper and easier to cook. And a lot of people don’t know how to cook.

£18 for spag bol??? How?
Depending on what mince and where you buy it, under a fiver. Onions and garlic and maybe a stick of celery..about a quid. A tin or 2 of tinned tomatoes..about £1.50 .. and you'd get enough for more than 6 portions..I'd get about 8 portions out of that. Herbs and spices presumably already in the cupboard/garden, maybe a glass of wine out of an already opened bottle..how is that anywhere near 18 quid?

If it cost £18 to make a beef ragu you are doing it wrong.

I made one yesterday (for 4) - beef mince, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bay leaf, a red pepper, teaspoon of capers, tin of tomatoes, glass of red wine, beef stock. Simmer for an hour or two. I had everything apart from the beef mince already, but I reckon tne ingredients would have been about £6 max.

Bulk it out with lentils to get twice as much

3.5 hours of oven for spag bol ? You'd be paying £40 for the equivalent ready meal.

Another one who is amazed that you managed to spend £18 making Spag Bol.

Im sure it is possible to get ready meals that are cheaper than making a meal yourself, but it's unlikely the quality of ingredients will be the same so you aren't really comparing like with like.

Food companies make their money from selling processed food, not raw ingredients. Even at the higher levels of quality, a farmer will make more profit selling cheese or ice cream, than just selling milk.

I would say though, that it's possible to save more if you can spend more upfront. We buy whole sheep and pigs from local farms which works out much cheaper, but not everyone is in a position to do that.

500g of mince and one tin of tomatoes for 6 portions?

Why are you putting spag bol in the oven…?

40 mins on the hob cooking slowly is ample.

and ingredients for 6 (I usually get 8 portions out of one pack minced beef) shouldn’t be more than £10 absolute maximum

500g mince, 2 tins toms, splash of wine at best for 6 here

But calorie for calorie processed food is miles cheaper than homemade

From.the cooking time I am assumimg maybe the OP used beef shin or stewing steak rather than mince? I do that sometimes for a special occasion to make a really rich, slow cooked, red wine heavy ragu to have with paparadelle. But not for a bog standard meal.

1/6 of a tin of tomatoes each?
83g of mince each?

Surely your meal is for two adults, would you really make such tiny portions for six people?

Assuming there aren't six adults, yes. The op said there were 5 and I worked on the basis of 100g each which is the recommended amount.

It’s not always cheaper, and I’m not one of the people who claims to frequent a top quality butcher cheaper than the supermarkets and be able to make ten hearty portions out of 500g of mince - but £18 for bolognaise does sound excessive unless you’re also counting things like buying several types of fresh herbs. Though I’ve never actually made a bolognaise, so perhaps I’m talking shit.

Ultimately, does it really matter? I’m not that invested in what other people put in their gobs. If they like to use an Aldi jar sauce, why not?

My recipe is
Mince
Tin of tomato
Carrot
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Herbs
Seasoning
Spaghetti
I add a couple of grated courgettes to it usually too.
That probably comes to around £10 if not slightly cheaper and costs me less than 6 ready meals.

You aren't comparing like with like. Look at the ingredients in a ready meal and the proportion of it that is meat.

Even if it is like for like they can bulk buy the ingredients direct from the farm which will be much cheaper.

Its terrible that people with less money end up having to eat poor quality food AND keep getting told cooking from scratch is cheaper.

500g 3% mince beef £5
pancetta £1.99
2 x tinned pomodorini cherry tomatoes £1.50
parmigiana cheese shavings £1.90
jar sundried tomatoes £1.60
Red wine stock pots £2 (we don’t drink alcohol so don’t have wine in the house and they are cheaper than a bottle)
dried Italian herbs 5p
2 carrots 20p
3 sticks celery 20p
2 onions 20p
garlic 20p
gluten free spaghetti £1.25
gluten free garlic flat bread with cheese £2.50
olive oil 75p
mixture of fresh herbs £1
sea salt 5p
black pepper 5p

I have estimated the cost of oil/herbs/veg as they came out of large packs and yes the garlic bread wasn’t needed but the kids like it.